In The News

President Ford opens the summit meeting of NATO in Brussels with a plan to strengthen the troubled North Atlantic Alliance. “We must preserve the quality and integrity of this alliance on the basis of unqualified participation, not on the basis of partial membership or special arrangements. The commitment to collective defense must be complete if it is to be credible. It must be unqualified if it is to be reliable.” Some of the troubled NATO countries include Portugal - where upheavals are tilting it toward communism ... Turkey who launched a war with Cyprus bringing it on the brink of war with Greece - a NATO ally.

The state of New Jersey plays its lottery for the first time. “Pick-It” is the first state lottery in the country in which players chose their number.

Fifty-five top Chrysler officers, who took a 50% pay cut in December, will regain their full salary because the company’s finances have improved.

On Issues and Answers, Alan Alda says due to the economic recession, many men would love to see their wives working full time and earning equal wages.

Fascinating Facts – May 24, 1975

Judge Ron Hachey of St Paul, MN rules that a woman who paid a bill for electrical work in exchange for sexual intercourse with the electrician - must pay the $377 bill because the “arrangement was performed for the enjoyment of both parties.” After the job and upon hearing she was divorced, the contractor suggested she take the job out in trade. But the wife of the electrician, takes care of payables and kept sending her out bills until she filed against her in small claims court.

Sports news – May 24, 1975

Joe Namath rejects a $4 million offer the join the World Football League’s Chicago Wind. Namath became a free agent May 1.

Valerie Perrine wins the Cannes Film Festival prize for best actress for her role in Lenny. Best male actor went to Italy’s Vittorio Gassman for his role in “Woman’s Perfume.”

Track star Steve Prefontaine (24) - owner of every American running record from 2000 to 10,000 meters dies in an auto accident in Oregon. Doctors say he suffocated when his car flipped over, pinning him underneath.

At Wembley Stadium in London before 70,000 - Daredevil Evel Knievel soars over a 140 foot line of 13 red single-deck buses standing side by side. A piece of plywood came loose just as the daredevil landed on it, somersaulting over his bike. Knievel suffered a crushed vertebra and a fractured right hand. Staggering to the microphone, he told the crowd: “I want to tell you that you are the last people who will ever see me jump. I am through.”

Veteran stock car driver Joe Frasson failed to qualify for the Sunday’s World-600 in Charlotte then took a jack handle to his car. NASCAR officials fined him for $100 and suspended him for 15 days. He insists it wasn’t in a rage but did it to signify the end of the Pontiac era” in stock car racing. His car’s drive shaft failed.

Television news – May 24, 1975

NBC cancels The Smothers Brothers and Mac Davis shows. At ABC – “In Concert” officially loses its 11:30pm Friday night slot with the final show this week featuring Alice Cooper. “In Concert” will survive on an unscheduled basis three to four times a year.

Legendary record producer Snuff Garrett is set to appear on ABC-TV Wide World “Summer of ‘65” Entertainment special this week (May 23).

The Waltons - John’s spinster cousin arrives and after a stay, the encourage her to marry Ike.

Streets Of San Francisco - Lt Stone’s life is on the line after he befriends a man, who tries to kill him.

Radio news – May 24, 1975

Bill Watson, once with KMEN (KMEN-129), San Bernardino (Mr. Kicks) and one of Bill Drake’s programmers, joins KMPC (Los Angeles) as a programming assistant.

Bobby Ocean joins KHJ, Los Angeles from KFRC, San Francisco.

Music news – May 24, 1975

Ringo Starr launches his Ringo-O record label and made it clear there would be no chance of the Beatles briefly reassembling for “farewell” concert appearances.

Goodbye Apple Records – As Ringo announces his new label, Apple Records, for all intents and purposes, is closing down. A small staff will be kept on hand for accounting, but all of the remaining staff of 15 are gone. After a nice surge by artists such as Mary Hopkin, James Taylor and Badfinger, the label gradually declined – other than as an outlet for the individual Beatles. In its seven years, only 22 non-Beatles albums were released – the last being Badfinger’s “Ass” album of last year. There should be one more Apple album out by George Harrison. Former Beatle road manager Neil Aspinall will remain.

John Lennon appears on Tom Synder’s NBC-TV “Tommorrow” show this week (29).

Did you catch Cher’s boyfriend Gregg Allman on her show a few weeks ago?

The Rolling Stones announce their upcoming tour by playing “Brown Sugar” upon a flatbed truck while traveling down Fifth Avenue in New York’s Greenwich Village. Also on board were Billy Preston and Ron Wood. The tour will be a three-month jaunt covering the U.S. and Canada and will also include the band’s first concerts in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil.

Dick Clark reactivates his concert division and plans call for 30 major concert promotions in the next four months. Initial acts promoted by Clark include Average White Band, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Bad Co., Mac Davis, Alice Cooper, The Osmonds, Uriah Heep, Lettermen and others. Says Clark, “We’ve been in the concert business for 19 years and have periodically retired from it. Over the past year and a half it became increasingly apparent that the concert business was an uneconomical business to be in and just was not worth the risk to us for a while. We are not going back into it now because of any radical change in the economy but because we found people to deal with who don’t have insane requests and obscene terms. You cannot do business if there is not a profit.”

Paul Colby is reopening the old Bitter End in Greenwich Village under “Other End.”

Syndicated DJ Wolfman Jack has a new touring show called “I Saw Radio.” The show, complete with dancers and an Elvis impersonator, salutes DJ’s past and present. Past DJ’s such as Alan Freed, will be featured on aircheck tape. The show’s got 30 bookings including Toledo, Detroit and Akron. Local radio personalities will be part of each show.

A Los Angeles judge rules that Linda McCartney ca go to a psychiatrist in London instead of doing jail time. Mrs Paul McCartney was arrested in March by a CHIPS officer for possession of marijuana.